| Oaks Corners Firefighters Extinguish Large Tree Fire |
On 02/02/12 at 5:25pm, a passerby noticed a fire in the woods on County Road 6 north of Preece Road. The
passerby stopped at Fire Chief Brian Maney's residence to report the fire. Chief Maney responded to
investigate and found flames visible in the woods approximately 1/2 mile off the road. Maney was circling the
block trying to find access to the fire when the 911 Center received a call from the resident at 2355 County
Road 6 reporting a tree fire in the woods behind the residence.
Brush Truck 3251, Pumper/Tanker 3231, & Heavy Rescue 3272 responded to the scene. When they finally
made it into the woods they found a 35' tall hollow tree with heavy fire burning inside the tree and blowing out
the top. Firefighters stretched a forestry hose line from the brush truck and used class "A" foam to knock
down the fire inside the lower third of the tree. Firefighters attempted to use both foam and water to get water
into the top 2/3 of the tree but were having difficulty at best. The deteriorated condition of the tree made it
too unstable at the top for a ladder.
It was decided that if they did not cut down the tree, it would continue to burn into the next day generating a
lot of 911 calls and a potential for fire spread beyond the tree. Firefighters used a chainsaw to carefully cut
down the tree. Once the tree was down, firefighters used a water & foam solution to extinguish the fire and
wet down the surrounding area. The fire was extinguished using 375 gallons of water and one pail of foam.
During the investigation, and area resident admitted to lighting a small pile of leaves at the base of the tree
at 2pm to smoke out an animal inside the tree.
Photo's by Chief Brian Maney
passerby stopped at Fire Chief Brian Maney's residence to report the fire. Chief Maney responded to
investigate and found flames visible in the woods approximately 1/2 mile off the road. Maney was circling the
block trying to find access to the fire when the 911 Center received a call from the resident at 2355 County
Road 6 reporting a tree fire in the woods behind the residence.
Brush Truck 3251, Pumper/Tanker 3231, & Heavy Rescue 3272 responded to the scene. When they finally
made it into the woods they found a 35' tall hollow tree with heavy fire burning inside the tree and blowing out
the top. Firefighters stretched a forestry hose line from the brush truck and used class "A" foam to knock
down the fire inside the lower third of the tree. Firefighters attempted to use both foam and water to get water
into the top 2/3 of the tree but were having difficulty at best. The deteriorated condition of the tree made it
too unstable at the top for a ladder.
It was decided that if they did not cut down the tree, it would continue to burn into the next day generating a
lot of 911 calls and a potential for fire spread beyond the tree. Firefighters used a chainsaw to carefully cut
down the tree. Once the tree was down, firefighters used a water & foam solution to extinguish the fire and
wet down the surrounding area. The fire was extinguished using 375 gallons of water and one pail of foam.
During the investigation, and area resident admitted to lighting a small pile of leaves at the base of the tree
at 2pm to smoke out an animal inside the tree.
Photo's by Chief Brian Maney
